Marauders attack Lancers

Michael Watkins/ Courier
Pablo Buenrostro (7) of Pasadena City College takes a shot on goal while being heavily defended by 4 Cerritos College players during the Lancers 4-0 loss on the road Tuesday September 26, 2017.

The Lancer defense allowed 2 goals in the first half against Antelope Valley on Friday, which was too much for the offense to overcome as the team would eventually go on to lose the game by a final score of 2-0.

Men’s is no stranger to starting the season off slow, as last year’s team started began with 2 ties and 1 win after 3 games, which almost mirrors this team’s record which currently stands at 1 win and 2 losses.

In his first full season after taking the head coaching job in the middle of the last season, PCC alumni and former Lancer soccer player, Gerry Mora understands that in order to succeed this season, team chemistry and practice are vital parts to improving.

“It’s a good group of guys, the team chemistry is there,”coach Mora said, “Even though we didn’t get the result we wanted last week, I was happy with what we have been working on at the practice ground and how we implemented it into the game.”

To make the challenge even more difficult for Mora and his team, the Lancers open the season with 7 road games before their eventual first home game on September 28th against East Los Angeles. But Mora believes the difficult schedule can be used to the teams advantage.

“You always try to take the positives,” Mora said, “We try to improve the team chemistry where we leave a few hours before the game and we’ll eat [at restaurants] talk with the guys, walk around the town, and just let the guys be themselves.”

The players give a lot of credit to Coach Mora for how he has taken control of the team and how the team hopes to make improvements from last season even after the bad start of the season

“The team is much more organized, the practices and everything,” sophomore forward and one of two captains on the team, Romio Sislian stated, “There’s more life in the team then there was last year.”

“He brings the team itself together, and he came in with a very positive attitude,” sophomore defender and the second captain, Bryce Watson said, “We are all leaders here and we all have a voice and we are encouraging the new guys to step up and lead this team as well.”

Two important aspects for any team to succeed in general are the ability to score and as well as a strong defense. For the team, that has been a problem as they have allowed 6 goals in 3 games this season and have only scored twice. But with the confidence that Mora and his team have could spark a competitive edge for the team that has not been seen in recent years.

Men’s soccer’s next game will be away on September 11th at La Mission College where the team will try to recover after the loss to Antelope valley as they try to improve their record to 2 wins on the season.